The smell of the open road. The wind in your fur. The chance to look down on lesser, pavement-bound pups… There are many reasons why your pooch may choose to poke their snout through a moving car’s window, but one thing’s for sure, it’s a sensory smorgasbord.
Although dogs see fewer hues and are often near-sighted, their field of view can be up to 250 degrees (compared to our 180 degrees) and they are better at perceiving motion. Dogs can detect more frames per second than us, meaning that while the hubcaps on a passing car look blurry to us, they could still look sharp to a canine passenger.
Scent, however, is where it’s really at.
undefinedA dog’s sense of smell is orders of magnitude greater than ours. Dog noses have 300 million smell receptors compared to our measly 6 million, and the brain region devoted to deciphering these chemical cues is 40 times larger.
When we exhale, spent air goes out the way it came in. When dogs exhale, the air exits via slits on the side of the noses and then swirls around, creating currents that usher new odours into the schnoz. This enables dogs to sniff more or less continuously and helps to make scent their primary way of interpreting the world.
There’s no debate. The rush of air from a moving car’s open window is rocket fuel for the dog’s sensory system, but there’s another reason why so many canines may partake in window surfing.
Dogs are complex creatures with needs that extend far beyond innate necessities, such as food, water and sex. So why do it? For the same reason, some of us like to travel on open-top buses or ride in a convertible with the roof down.
Because it’s fun!
Read more:
- The (completely adorable) ways dogs know exactly how you’re feeling
- Do dogs know when they fart?
- How dogs can help us live longer, healthier lives
- Why do dogs chase their tails?
This article is an answer to the question (asked by Lewis McKenzie, via email) 'Why do dogs like sticking their heads out of car windows?'
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